Make it happen | SEF.Founder Conference
Click here for this year's SEF.Founder Conference
(6 June 2024)
The SEF.Founder Conference at the Swiss Economic Forum is the highlight of the year for start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs. We offer top-class speakers and specific formats according to the needs of our SEF.Founder Community. In addition to the carefully compiled programme, it is the unique networking opportunity with partners and like-minded people that is particularly appreciated by our participants at this event. After the SEF.Founder Conference, participants will have the opportunity to attend the Swiss Economic Forum's high-quality networking event with 1350 personalities from the Swiss economy.
Two hundred founders and entrepreneurs gathered at the SEF.Founder Conference in Congress Center Interlaken to shape the future of entrepreneurship in Switzerland. It fostered innovation and created synergies for growth in an inspirational setting from noon until dawn.
8 June 2023, 12pm
Theatersaal, Congress Centre Kursaal Interlaken
Impressions
All impressions of the SEF.Founder Conference can be found here.
Where founders get fired up and make valuable connections
On June 8th at the SEF.Founder Conference in Interlaken, 200 entrepreneurial minds assembled. The event was characterized by participants who majorly come from start-ups of different growth stages – leaving room for sharing best practices and experiences among them. But also the supporting partners are here to join the start-up community and help with expertise that they gladly share.
An opportunity to make connections in and out of the start-up scene
One is Switzerland Global Enterprise, which has partnered with SEF to support Swiss start-ups with their internationalisation.
«We appreciate that the founder conference is combined with the Swiss economic forum as it also opens doors for start-ups to talk to an internationally active corporate world. It enables them to make connections within and outside the start-up community, which will boost scaling start-ups double», states Felicitas Gartmann, consultant for start-ups at Switzerland Global Enterprise.
Panels spreading know-how from experience
To further enhance founders' entrepreneurial knowledge, the Founder Conference covers a well-selected range of topics, such as finding a good way to fund and finance one's start-up and building and preserving a good company culture from the start until growing the team significantly. The topics were dealt with in discussion rounds in which the panelists covered the topic diversely and densely through different backgrounds, experiences, and points of view.
Founders inspiring founders
Inspiring the participants with keynotes has enriched the program additionally. Swisspreneur host Silvan Krähenbühl, moderator of the Founder Conference, interviewed Urs Hölzle, Employee #8 at Google, to find out about how Google and Hölzle's live have developed throughout the company's tremendous growth. «There is not one solution that lives forever. At a certain company size, you need to operate differently than how you did when you first started. Then you need to let go of old patterns and permit the change to evolve», Hölzle wisely said.
And Gian-Mattia Schucan, Founder & Co-CEO of FAIRTIQ, gave raw insights into what is behind the success story of a start-up. One of his key insights on his journey as a start-up founder was: «I have to be with people I care about to do something that people care about.»
A valuable place for founders of all stages
Early-stage start-up founder Oliver Kress is especially eager to meet people and learn about other companies as well as chase opportunities of getting to know potential investors. «At events like this one, I can be sure to stay in contact with a handful of supportive people beyond the event who can help me and my start-up progress,» says Kress. But even start-ups such as Yokoy that already have tremendous momentum and high-level in-house knowledge, participating in the event is worth it.
«When I attended three years ago, I was especially interested in networking with potential customers. While this is still a small part of my motivation to come here, it has also shifted towards a greater interest in taking care of the customer relationships we already have as well as seeing what ideas other young companies are bringing to the table», says Markus Sommer, Country Manager Switzerland of Yokoy.
The founder community was on fire
With this, the third edition of the SEF.Founder conference comes to an end.
«We had great discussions on stage as well as off stage. I was delighted to see how lively the community is and how connections fired up the entrepreneurial energy, » were the final words of Lukas Frösch, Director of Entrepreneurship at the Swiss Economic Forum, before opening the outdoor networking dinner.
Programme for 8 June 2023
| Time | Description |
|---|---|
| 12.00 | Individual arrival and Welcome lunch |
| 13.30 | Welcome note by Lukas Frösch, Director Entrepreneurship, NZZ Connect |
| 13.45 | Start official Programme SEF.Founder Conference Fireside Chat with Urs Hölzle, Employee #8 at Google |
| 14.10 | Keynote about «An honest success story» from Gian-Mattia Schucan, Founder & Co-CEO, FAIRTIQ |
| 14.35 | Panel about Funding & Financing with Sophie Lamparter, Founder & Managing Partner DART Labs | Daniel Gutenberg, Unicorn Hunter und Soonicorn Farmer | Dr. Christina Vallgren, Co-founder & CEO / President of the board of Terapet SA |
| 15.15 | Coffee break |
| 15.50 | Panel about Culture & Organisation with Cristian Grossmann, CEO & Co-Founder Beekeeper | Anna Grassler, Co-CEO FELFEL | Sven Jakelj, Co-founder & CEO at feey |
| 16.30 | Keynote about «How to hire rock stars and where to find them» with Tom Hanan, Founder & CEO Webrepublic SA |
| 16.55 | Wrap-up Silvan Krähenbühl & Lukas Frösch, |
| 17.15 | Networking at the SEF.Founder Conference |
| 18.15 | Individual participation in the networking evening of the Swiss Economic Forum |
The moderator
Silvan Krähenbühl
CEO at Rentouch | piplanning.io, Co-Founder and former CEO of Gymhopper (acquired by myClubs), Co-Founder of Unicorn Ventures, Business Administration degree of University of St. Gallen, Based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Silvan Krähenbühl moderates the Investor Panel. He is the host of the Swisspreneur Podcast, co-founder and former CEO of Gymhopper (acquired by myClubs), co-founder of Unicorn Ventures. He graduated in business administration from the University of St. Gallen.
The Speakers
Urs Hölzle
Employee #8 at Google
Fireside Chat
Today, Urs Hölzle is the principal responsible for the infrastructure that powers Google's services. He started as employee #8 at Google as chief engineer. Hölzle grew up in Switzerland and earned a master's degree in computer science from ETH Zurich a doctorate from Stanford. Learn about Urs’ personal story and why he motivates founders to start-up and scale-up.
LinkedIn
Cristian Grossmann
CEO & Co-Founder Beekeeper
Panel about Culture and Organisation
Cristian, CEO and Co-Founder of Beekeeper, understands the challenges faced by deskless employees. With a background in chemical engineering and experience in production, he is passionate about empowering frontline workers. Prior to Beekeeper, Cristian worked on IT strategy projects for Accenture in the financial and public sectors. He holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from ETH Zurich and comes from an entrepreneurial Swiss-Mexican family in Mexico City.
LinkedIn
Sophie Lamparter
Founder & Managing Partner DART Labs
Panel about Funding & Financing
For years, Sophie Lamparter has been a constant for European and especially Swiss start-ups that want to take the leap into Silicon Valley.
Her point of view: investors and company founders should grow together more as a team. And as co-head and co-founder of Dart Labs, she offers her help in this regard: the incubator not only brings start-ups and capital together, but also connects inventors with investors, developers and customers. Accordingly, interdisciplinary consulting services are a fixed part of the package. Dart Labs' portfolio already includes renowned companies such as the Swiss unicorn MindMaze and Faceshift (now Apple).
LinkedIn
Anna Grassler
Co-CEO FELFEL
Panel about Culture and Organisation
Anna Grassler was appointed as Co-CEO of FELFEL in early 2022. With a background in studying at the University of St. Gallen and ESCP-Europe, she founded "GlamBox," a cosmetics start-up, during her Masters. After selling the company, she pursued her passion for good food and joined the salad restaurant chain "Gärtnerei" in Zurich and Berne. Anna later joined FELFEL, where she established the corporate partnerships team. Since January of this year, she has been Co-CEO alongside Emanuel Steiner, focusing on operations, growth, customer relations, and corporate culture. Emanuel Steiner handles business strategy.
LinkedIn
Daniel Gutenberg
Unicorn Hunter und Soonicorn Farmer
Panel about Funding & Financing
Daniel Gutenberg, a renowned European business angel, discovered his passion for entrepreneurship in Hawaii after studying engineering. He founded Gutenberg Communication Systems AG at 25 and sold it in 2000, beginning his career as an investor. Since 2002, Daniel has supported numerous startups, with over 100 investments, including fifteen unicorns like Netscape, Facebook, and MobilEye. He serves on boards, judges startup competitions, and actively networks with investors and global business organizations.
LinkedIn
Tom Hanan
Founder & CEO Webrepublic SA
Keynote
Tom Hanan is the founder and CEO of Webrepublic, Switzerland's leading full-service agency with a digital-first approach and a team of 250 employees.
As the first Google employee in Switzerland and a pioneer in digital marketing, Tom was awarded the "Digital Lifetime Award" by IAB Switzerland and the "Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017" by Ernst & Young. In 2020, he was included in the list of the 100 most important personalities in the Swiss economy by the business magazine Bilanz.
LinkedIn
Gian-Mattia Schucan
Founder & Co-CEO, FAIRTIQ
Keynote «an honest success story»
Gian-Mattia is a physicist and entrepreneur with expertise in public transport ticketing. He is the Founder & Co-CEO of FAIRTIQ Ltd, a Swiss start-up that provides a mobile app for purchasing electronic public transport tickets.
With degrees from ETHZ, Oxford, and INSEAD, Gian-Mattia has held executive positions and worked at McKinsey and Swiss Federal Railways. He founded his consulting company in 2013, which eventually led to the establishment of FAIRTIQ in 2016.
LinkedIn
Dr. Christina Vallgren
Co-founder & CEO / President of the board of Terapet SA
Panel about Funding & Financing
Dr. Christina Vallgren is co-founder & CEO/President of Terapet SA, a CERN MedTech startup based in Geneva. With a Ph.D. in Applied Physics, an MSc in Nuclear Physics, an MBA and PMP certification, she brings a diverse skill set to her role.
Her remarkable career path from CERN to medicine and entrepreneurship earned her the prestigious CERN Directors' Award in 2021. Dr. Vallgren's leadership drives Terapet SA's innovative MedTech solutions, combining scientific expertise and business acumen to positively transform healthcare.
LinkedIn
Sven Jakelj
Co-founder & CEO at feey
Panel about Culture and Organisation
Sven Jakelj is Co-founder & CEO at feey since August 2019, with 2 years at PROCIVIS SA as Product Manager and 3 months in Business Development.
Prior to that, he worked for nearly 2 years as a Divisional Risk & Control Analyst for WM EMEA at Deutsche Bank.
Sven Jakelj holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Economics from the University of Zurich and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Geography.
LinkedIn